My stomach shrank and my feet felt weak. Beneath me was 3000 feet of air all the way to the ground. My only connection to this world lay in a rope running up above me and disappearing over a roof. The bright white granite apron of El Capitan splayed out beneath me, and the trees far beneath looked like small bushes. A gentle breeze blew, and I slowly twirled on my lifeline, getting a 360 degree view of the scenery around me. I paused, thinking now would be a good time to take a picture, but the intense exposure of my situation put only one thought in my mind: Up.